Iron holder and clothes rack assembly for ironing board



Oct. 10, 1961 w. M. SANDERS 3,003,645

IRON HOLDER AND CLOTHES RACK ASSEMBLY FOR IRONING BOARD Filed Dec. 12, 1958 INVENTOR.

WALTER M SANDERS Kfncx & 149mm:

United States Patent 3,003,645 IRON HOLDER AND CLOTHES RACK ASSEMBLY FOR IRONING BOARD Walter M. Sanders, 5925 Ranger Road, San Diego 14, Calif. Filed Dec. 12, 1958, Ser. No. 779,911 2 Claims. (Cl. 211-86) The present invention relates generally to ironing aocessories and more particularly to an iron holder and clothes rack assembly for ironing boards.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an assembly for attachment to an ironing board which includes an iron stand to hold a hot iron, the iron stand containing an electrical outlet for the iron, and a clothes rack mounted on the iron stand to carry clothes after ironing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a clothes rack assembly which is easily clamped to the end of an ironing board by means of an integral bracket in the iron stand portion thereof.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a clothes rack assembly which is collapsible into a mini mum of space for easy storage and which may be left on the ironing board when collapsed, or removed completely when not required.

A further object of this invention is to provide a clothes rack assembly having a spring support for the electrical cord of the iron, to hold the cord clear of the work area.

Another object of this invention is to provide an iron holder and clothes rack assembly which is adapted for fabrication from many different materials, so that the choice of material can be according to the dictates of availability and price considerations, the exact sizes and proportions being matters easily determined to suit particular conditions and needs.

Another object of this invention is to provide an iron holder and clothes rack assembly which is practicable and inexpensive to manufacture. 1 .Finally, it is an object to provide an iron holder and clothes rack assembly of the aforementioned character which is simple, safe and convenient to use and which will give generally eflicient and durable service.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification, particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawing which forms a material part of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the iron holder with clothes rack erected, an ironing board being indicated fragmentarily;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, the electrical outlet being shown in full;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation view, on a reduced scale, showing the assembly almost completely collapsed to illustrate the method of folding the structure.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the views of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, wherein is iHustrated one complete embodiment of my invention, the assembly includes a mounting bracket having a base plate 12 which is extended to form a flat-iron stand 14 Patented Oct. 10, 1961 at one end similar to the plate portion of a trivet, the other end of said bracket having a generally U-shaped portion 16 to fit over the end of an ironing board 18. The U-shaped portion 16 has aflat clamp plate 20 which extends under the ironing board 18 parallel to the base plate 12, and a clamp screw 22 is threaded through the clamp plate to bear against the underside of the ironing board, as in FIGURE 2. Fixed to the base plate 12 adjacent the U-shaped portion 16 is a U-shaped hinge bracket 24 having upwardly extending parallel arms 26.

Mounted between the arms 26 is a support post 28 of channel section material, said support post being pivotal about transverse hinge pins 30 parallel to the plane of the base plate 12. Secured in the support post 28 adjacent the hinge pins 30 is a spring actuated detent ele ment 32 of any suitable well known type, said element having detent plungers 34 which extend from the element and engage in sockets 35 in the arms 26 to lock the support post in an upright position, as in FIGURE 4. The upper end of the support post 28 has a pair of upwardly extending hinge arms 36, between which is secured one end of a cross bar 38, pivotal on a hinge pin 40 between said hinge arms and parallel to the hinge pins 30. The cross bar 38 is generally C-shaped in cross section and has opposed, inwardly turned edge flanges 42, as illustrated in FIGURE 3. Slidably fitted into the cross bar 38 is a cross bar extension 44, also C-shaped in cross section, the two elements comprising a telescopic member of rigid but light structure.

The cross bar extension 44 has, at its outer end, a pair of extended hinge arms 46 which straddle the upper end of a tubular telescopic post 48, the post being held by a further hinge pin 50 parallel to the hinge pin 40. The telescopic post 48, as illustrated, includes an upper section 52, an intermediate section 54 and a lower section 56, which slide into each other, the intermediate and lower sectionseach having a plurality of longitudinally spaced holes 58 at their upper ends to receive stop pins 60 inserted through the next larger telescopic section in each case. Thus the length of the telescopic post 48 can be adjusted to suit, the lower end of the lower section 56 having a ferrule 62 thereon for frictional bearing support on the floor. It should be understood that the telescopic post 48 may be composed of any desired number of interfitting sections according to size and extension requirements.

The mounting bracket 10 contains an electrical outlet 64 secured in the U-shaped portion 16 and accessible through the base plate 12, said outlet being connected to a suitable extension cord 66. The base plate 12 takes the place of a separate trivet and serves as a resting surface for an electric flat-iron 68, when hot, to avoid burning of the ironing board surface, the iron cord 70 being plugged into the outlet 64. The position of the ironing board 18 relative to an electrical wall outlet is thus not 7 limited by the length of the iron cord 70, the full length of the iron cord being available at the work area. To prevent the iron cord 70 from interfering with the work, a retractor spring 72 is attached at one end to the hinge pin 40, the other end of said spring having a loop 74-, through which the iron cord is passed. The retractor spring 72 is strong enough to lift the iron cord 70 clear of the work surface, yet not enough to exert an undue pull on the cord which might interfere with use of the iron.

The assembly may be attached to any conventional ironing board and the telescopic post 48 extended to the floor to hold the cross bar portion horizontal, the cross bar elements 38 and 44 being extended as necessary to the required length. When the assembly is erected, the single detent element 32 is sulficient to hold the entire structure against collapse, since the Weight of ironed articleshanging on the cross bar serves to hold the telescopic post 48 firmly on the floor and prevents slippage. To prevent hangers, on which ironed clothes are hung, from inadvertently sliding oif the end of the cross -bar extension 44 itlis preferred that lugs :76 should be formed on theendof thisextension 44. These lugs have a secondary function in strengthening the hinge arms 46 against breakage. For storage, the telescopic post 48 collapses and folds upwardly into the cross bar extension '44 which, in turn, telescopes into the outer cross :bar 38, the entire structure then folding down- .wardly into the support post 28, as in'FIGURE 5 Also, the bracket .10 maybe folded along the side of the support post 28 by manually releasing the -detent plungers It is noteworthy that the complete assembly can be folded into the topof the ironing board, and the bracket .the storage space required is not materially increased.

The operation of this invention will be clearly comprehended from a considerationof the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken in connection with the drawing and the above recited objects. 'It will be obvious that all said objects are amply achieved by this invention.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the specification and drawing are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting- I claim:

'1. An iron holder and clothes rack assembly for an ironing board, comprising: a bracket having clamp means thereon for attachment to an ironing board; a support post pivotally attached at one end to said "bracket said support 'post having a U-shaped cross section; means on said bracket to hold the post upright; 'a linearly ad- 'justable garment supporting cross bar pivotally attached 'at one end to the other end of said support post said cross bar having a U-shaped cross section; a telescopically adjustable, floor-engaging post pivotally attached at one end to the-other end of said cross bar; said floorengaging post Whencollapsed, being foldable into the hollow portion of said U-shaped cross section of said cross bar, and said cross bar when linearly collapsed being foldable into the hollow portion of said U-shaped cross section of said support post. 1

2. An iron holder and clothes rack assembly for an ironing board, comprising: a brackethaving clamp means thereon for attachment to an ironing board; said bracket having a combined integral extended plate stabilizing means and supporting surface for a flat iron; a support post pivotally attached at one end'to said bracket; means on said bracket to hold the post upright; said combined stabilizing means and supporting surface being adapted to contact a relativelylarge segment of the-top surface of an ironing board and thus stabilizing the bracket and .said means to hold the post upright and indirectly stabilizing saidlpost; a linearly adjustable garment supporting crossbar pivotally attached at one end tothe other end of said support post; a telescopically adjustable,

floor-engaging post pivotally attached at one end to the other end of said cross bar; said floor-engaging post when collapsed being folded into an i'n'ternesting relation with said cross bar, and said crossbar when linearly collapsed being foldable into an internesting relation with said support post; and said bracket and support post :being pivotally connected together; 'means to lock'said support post in vertical position when said extended plate portion of the bracket is in horizontal, operative position; saidsupp'o'rt post being foldable into parallelism with said extended plate portion and with said cross bar and said floor-engaging post folded into the support post.

References Cited in the the of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 467,944 Mellott Feb. 2, 1892 I 1,015,448 'Madden Jan. 23, 1912 2,271,463 Reeves Jan. 27, 1942 2,548,648 Booth Apr. 10, 1951 2,568,211 Woelke a Sept. 18, 1951 2,576,067 Chandler Nov. 20, 1 951 2,854,148 Mattos et al Sept. 30, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,055,235 France 'Oct. 14, 1953 

